To whom it might concern;
My name is Veronica, I am a 23 year old Spanish citizen.
I want to share my experience as Spanish Citizen traveling to Canada.
The 9th of July I traveled from Barcelona to Montreal in a flight of “Air Transat” at 13.30
I was traveling as cultural exchange, I would be staying with a Canadian family which wanted to learn about my culture and teach me also about the Canadian one. They were going to let me live with them and give me a little tip by week to help me go around and travel the country (an au pair experience, with no contract because is not a real work, I don't earn money, I don't receipt enough tip to get to live in Canada by my own, or take that money to my country, or even get to pay the trip to Canada)
I was NOT robbing a Canadian citizen workstation because it was a cultural exchange between the Spanish and the Canadian culture.
This tip were going to be 70 CAD/Week, you can imagine, with that amount of money, I could barely cover the transportation ticket in Montreal… Who would work for so little money in Canada? Can you answer that? Would you?
I just try to make the point here, That I wasn’t trying to work illegally in the country nor take the job of any Canadian citizen.
I had my RETURN Ticket to my Country, were I am still a Student, were I would have been very happy to go back after my 6 weeks experience.
When I landed in Montreal Trudeau and got to the passport control (I have it in order, I just made it this February and I bought the eTA months ago) the employee made me lots of questions about what I was going to do in the country. I told her about traveling to Quebec, Ontario, Ottawa (where I wanted to meet a girl I met in Facebook), and I also wanted to book a trip of three days to New York that I saw in the web site "taketours.com".
She asked me where was I going to stay and I told her that with my friend of the au pair exchange; she asked me how long I was going to stay, I told her 41 days (6 weeks) she asked me if I had paid the return flight to my country, that I had of course, and she made me show the proof, that I did; she asked me what was I studying in my country (Art Restoration in Huesca, I had just paid the rental of a flat there for the whole next year beginning in September).
Well, she told me I had to go to room “Immigration 1”, I thought they were going to revise my luggage because I saw in the plain that it was going to happen so, but I never thought that it was going to happen this.
When I entered in “Immigration 1”, alone because I traveled alone, they called me and an officer made me more questions.
When he finished he told me that I has taking a job that a Canadian citizen could do, that I was a robber, I told him he had misunderstood the situation, because I was there as cultural exchange, not to earn any money, actually I was going to spend money, the tip that the family wanted to give me and also the money I have changed in my country (I had dollars and also Canadian dollars for all my stay). He treated me like a criminal, I try to talk with him about the situation and he didn't wanted to listen to me, he told me that he would have to force me to leave the country, I was scared and didn't understood the situatrion, we were only talking in english and I was very nervous, he repeated about forcing me to live, like I has a cryminal trying to resist the authority. I called my friend there, she was outside the airport because she had come to collect me, she couldn’t believe this also and she tried to talk with the officer but he refused, she called immigration and get to talk with another officer that told her that I had just told them that I was entering their country to “baby sit or nanny” (Which I never told them and is not true, It was a cultural exchange for the whole family), my friend asked the new officer if they had let me talk with someone in Spanish and they told her that I had talked with someone in Spanish, that’s completely wrong, I ask them to let me talk with a representative of my country or someone that spoke Spanish and they didn't let me, they told me to call anyone if I wanted so I just call my family to tell them the nightmare I was just living.
After six hours being treated like a delinquent without any rights, sitting in the floor of Inmigration 1 to get to use my laptop and finf someone that could help me, the spanish consulate was closed because it was sunday and no one answered the emergency number, I ended phoning the spanish consul in person but he only could try to calm me down because I has haveing an anxiety attack, they didn't try to hep me, give me something hot to drink or any food, after all of that they came to let me in the next flight to Barcelona, and they did it with an officer that spoked Spanish, far too late, they let me in the terminal and put me in the plain giving me back my passport and ticket flight one hour after.
So I made more than a day of trip, I spend 692 Euros on the flight, 127 Euros in this insurance (than won’t cover the deportation, my luggage or my tablet that was broken in my luggage; hopefully they would have paid at least my dead body to my country if I have just died there from a heart attack)
They broke two of the wheels of my suitcase so I could barely move it when I was back in Barcelona alone, because it was 20 kilograms and I was carrying the cabine one also with 10 kilograms, I had no train or bus ticket to go back to my home with my family in Zaragoza, four hours appart from Barcelona. I paid the eTA, and the return bus tickets to Barcelona (Departure 9th of July and 20th of August arrival), plus all the money I was carrying for visiting the country.
And now the new baggage I will have to buy now because they broke mine.
I spend A LOT of money to live a dream and I just lived a two day nightmare!
I spend all of that just for being six hours crying in Immigration, treated as a criminal, to be forced to leave that country, deported as a criminal. Not to consider that the country is really far from Spain (7:55 hours by plain, they are 5.915km to Canada from Barcelona)
My rights have been broken, it is no fair how I was treated, I want you to know my experience because I talked that day by phone with the Spanish council Antonio Bullon that tell me that unfortunately this situation happened twice a month to Spanish citizens, and he could do nothing because the immigration officers have more power than them or even the police.
My rights were not defended and apparently they couldn't be defended. This is not acceptable!
I am not a criminal, I was just a student trying to do something significant this summer, to improve my english.
I want my experience back, I want the six weeks I was going to be enjoying, learning and spending my money back. I want my money back because they have just robbed me and it is unacceptable. They made me feel that I has nothing but a criminal without any rights, I could steel feel the humiliation.
I kindly ask you to read this and I would appreciate it, I really what this to be known.
I want to have my experience in Canada. I don't have the money to pay for all of it again, I am not rich, I am only a student with humble parents, we could barely afford it the first time so imagine the pain to lose all, and not even have the chance to pay it again or had the money refund.
It has been a dream come a nightmare and I need you to help me, or even if you couldn't, you should read all of this to be aware about this experience that more Spanish citizens live and no one should.
I am really in shock, this pain would not disappear quickly, and the pain, psychological and monetary, my family just lived it is really out of words.
And be aware, even if you are just visiting a different country, please read everything about it to be preparated.
Kind regards and best wishes for everyone that loves to travel,
Veronica Sancho
